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Forum DIET & CARE Baby bunny isn’t drinking enough water?

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    • Ciera D
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        So I recently had a 2 year old rabbit who died from severe complications of an antibiotic-resistant form of E. cuniculi, and it was a very tough and devastating loss. However, I just received a new little bunny as a gift from my family to help alleviate the sadness from losing my other bun. He’s been home for almost 3 days now, and is eating like a champ. He loves his timothy hay (1st cut fibrous) and I was given a bag of pellets he was eating in his home before I brought him to my home, and he’s been getting a 1/4 cup of those day, which is all he seems to want. I also put a bowl of water in his cage which I change every morning before I leave for work and every night before I go to sleep.

        However, it seems to me that he’s not drinking enough water? My other rabbits went through half a water bottle a day at least, and he seems to not even drink half of the little bowl he has in his cage. Additionally, his poops are a good color, but he has been giving off some very small ones since I brought him home. I read that this could be a sign of poor diet or poor hydration, but he eats timothy hay literally all day and has his 1/4 cup of pellets in there as well. It also sounded like he MAY have passed a little gas this morning, which has had me worried all morning.

        I let him out to run yesterday, and he was doing binkies and running in fast cirlces all night, and even came my way once or twice to sniff my fingers before running off again. He’s been pooping and peeing normally, and his urine doesn’t have any sediment in it; it’s a clear light yellow color. His poops are also a light brown color, and I noticed he left a few ceccals in his cage yesterday, but I reduced his pellets and haven’t seen anything like that since then.

        Overall, he isn’t ACTING sick, but I know from unfortunate experience sickness can come on suddenly, so I’d love some advice!

        He’s going for his vet check up this Friday, but has anyone else had this experience with a baby bunny in his first few days home? I’m so trigger shy about losing another bunny, I would just like some peace of mind from someone with a similar experience before I jump the gun and take him to the emergency vet tonight when I get home from work.


      • vanessa
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          You mentioned baby – How old is he?
          If he is older than a year, you can limit the pellets. Young bunnies should have unlimited pellets.
          Different bunnies drink different amounts of water. My Guin drinks the least – I can hardly tell that the water level has changed with her. Avalon and Morgana drink more than Guin, and Lancelot normally drinks 2-3 cups a day. The amount of hay vs veggies will provide different amounts of moisture, and rabbits change their drinking habits in response to the moisture content of the food.
          Currently, Lancelot is not drinking much, and he is the only rabbit I’ve had that I’v been concerned about his fluid intake, so I syringe feed him water, I add apple juice to his water bowl, and hopefully within a few days I’ll see improvement. For a new bunny, it could be stress, although he is eating well, and it could just be the amount he normally drinks.
          Small poops are a sign of gut slow-down. But the hay is good – so I would find this confusing too. Stress can cause the gut issues. I have read about gas in rabbits, but never experienced it myself. There are other members on the forum who can write more about that.
          The cecals – excess cecals can be from too-nutrient rich foods, or simply uneaten cecals – can’t reach his but, or too-nutrient rich food again, so he doesn’t feel the need to eat his cecals, perhaps dental pain, there could be a number of reasons, glad to hear you haven’t seen excess cecals since limiting his pellets. What brand of pellets are you using? Any treats? Veggies? Fruits?

          I’d take him to the vet and describe everything, both as a new-animal health check, and to ease your conscience. I probably wouldn’t go to the emergency vet, but I would definitely make a regular appointment as soon as I can.

          A side-note on the EC – was it your vet who said the EC was antibiotic-resistant? I have my second EC bunny, so this topic interests me… From what I know, EC is primarily treated with antimicrobials, and EC can be resistant to those. But EC is a protozoa not a bacteria, and while antibiotics are part of the EC treatment plan, the resistance issue with EC is typically towards the antimicrobial. Antibiotics do help with secondary EC-related infections such as middle and inner ear infections, and really any infection anywhere due to cellular rupture from the protozoa, perhaps that is where the antibiotic resistance becomes a problem? I’m always trying to learn more about EC, so I’m curious about the background to your comment.


        • Ciera D
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            He’s about 11 weeks old right now; I’ve been refilling his food bowl with pellets whenever he runs out, but he really hasn’t eaten more than 1/4 a day since I brought him home. And since he’s still a baby, I haven’t introduced any veggies to him at all; I generally don’t give babies veggies until they hit 6 months, so I’m sticking to that regimen. 

            I didn’t explain it very well before, but he only emits a few small poops; the sizes seem to vary. Like, he’ll have normal size poops, and then right after will emit a few small ones. I also can’t tell if it’s because he’s so small; he’s a dwarf rabbit AND a baby on top of that, so I’m not sure how normal the poop size variance for this small breed is. And like you said, he’s eating his hay constantly, which is why I’m confused why his gut would be slowing down. The types of pellets I’m giving him are Manna pro-formula timothy pellets, and the hay is a local organic natural cut timothy hay.

            I’m definitely taking him to the vet on Friday, and I’ve been getting regular updates on him from home; he’s eating and drinking and has been pooping all day, and once again the sizes vary. Also, I have touched his stomach to feel if it’s hard and distended to indicate gut bloat, but so far his tummy is very soft and squishy, so this is all a very confusing set of symptoms.

            I’ll try putting apple juice in his water to see if he’ll take it! That is a great tip, thanks

            As for the EC – my vet said she’d never seen such a severe case of EC in a rabbit; the alligator rolling at the end had become uncontrollable, even when she was stabilized in a box with towels keeping her in place. She was on the antimicrobial EC medication for a week and a half and instead of getting better, she only got worse. She was put on the antibiotics to treat a possible ear infection, but none of the medications she took seemed to help. The only thing her vet could tell me at the end was that this was either not going to get better, MIGHT get better but she would have severe deficits (severe head tilt, ocular problems, etc.) or that this wasn’t EC at all, it could be another internal cause that we couldn’t diagnose without extensive cat scans and MRI scans. In the end I opted for humane euthanization because at the very peak of this illness, she was constantly stressed and was in pain, so it was inhumane to continue any treatment or any type of care for her. But normally EC is supposedly very treatable in rabbits, my rabbit could have been a very extreme or severe case; she was an adopted stray, so I have no idea where she was or how she was treated before I brought her home


          • sarahthegemini
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              Having a few small poops amongst normal ones doesn’t necessarily mean the gut is slowing down. My Buttercup does really good golden poops and occasionally she’ll have a tiny one and she is a hay fiend! My Peanut also has small poops and his gut isn’t slowing down! Obviously, any other symptoms need to be taken into account but I wouldn’t worry just because there are a few small poops.


            • vanessa
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                I agree with sarathegemini on the small poops too – it could be that your bunny is perfectly healthy, and since he is new to you, you aren’t familiar with his bodily signs. I might not even worry about the odd bunny-fart, unless his belly gets loud and gurgly and he stops acting happy. Since his tummy is soft and squishy, I think he sounds fine.

                But I would always take a new pet for a checkup for that exact reason – I don’t know the animal well enough to know if something is out of the ordinary.

                But I understand the feeling of urgency after the EC experience. My first EC bunny was also severe. He was having seizures, was paralyzed, incontinent, complications with flystrike, in pain, and he also got worse after a week. I had him euthanized. My second EC bunny is Lancelot, and I was quicker to react to his symptoms. He got worse during the first week – went from dizzy to paralyzed and he stopped eating/drinking. I was syringe feeding him for 2-3 weeks, and it took about that long for him to be able to maintain a sitting position. I’ve learned since then that EC gets worse before it gets better. But the period of “worse” is really difficult for us to deal with. In Merlin’s case, I was told it would be a long road – if he recovered at all. With Lancelot, I took him to a different vet who wasn’t nearly as proactive, and I’ve done a lot of self-treating to pull him through. With Merlin, EC was new to me, and I didn’t think that with my work travel, I would be able to care for him. Today – I think he was severe enough that looking back, I don’t see a different outcome. He was definitely suffering, and had so many obstacles to overcome that I don’t regret having him euthanized. But now I’m more aware of the different symptoms, and I prefer to treat quickly and aggressively. Sorry about your experience.


              • Ciera D
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                  Thank you both for your responses! 

                  An update: I came home and his poops all seem to be a consistent size now, and it seems like he drank out of his bowl, even though I’m still not comfortable with the amount. I also checked his tummy again and it’s pretty fat, but still squishy and he isnt in pain when I press on his stomach at all. Now he’s out and about in my room, doing binkies and running in circles like a little banshee! He’s also been grooming himself and cleaning himself, and it seems like he may finally be eating his ceccals, and I’ve only found one hanging around in his cage uneaten today. He’s running and exploring and acting normally, and his stomach isn’t gurgling or making noises and he isn’t acting lethargic or sick whatsoever, so hopefully he’s doing ok! 

                  vanessa – I’m sorry to hear you had to go through EC with two different bunnies; I barely survived one! I’m glad Lancelot is feeling better, and that you were able to help him recover. I truly TRULY hope to never encounter EC in a bunny ever again, but if I do, I am also better equipped to handle the repercussions than I was when I had to put Bits down. It’s just so hard seeing them that uncomfortable, you know? Anyway, much love to all your buns, and thanks again for your comments! I feel much better now and can enjoy watching my little one binky around!

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              Forum DIET & CARE Baby bunny isn’t drinking enough water?